Bayside: Serna Village Dental Clinic Update...

 

May 29, 2008

 

Meeting took place at Westridge Builders, Inc., 6207 S. Walnut St, Loomis, Ca 95650

 

The purpose of the meeting was to organize the thoughts of the Westridge Team

and prepare to put together a more detailed plan along with the rest of the organizations

involved in the Serna Dental Clinic Project.

 

People present:

Joe Alexander - Westridge

Jean Alexander - Westridge

Julie Schmidt - Westridge

Linda Silva - Westridge

Christy Eberhardt - Westridge

Lee Freeman - Westridge

Shawna - Westridge

Dave Coburn - Bayside Church

 

Points made in the meeting...

1) have plans from Mercy and Westridge staff are reviewing.

2) Goal is to provide a Dental clinic in Sacramento that will provide services

    on a priority basis to low income kids and secondarily low income adults.

    Our aim is to place this clinic at Serna Village.  If that cannot be reasonably

    done we will consider other sites to meet the same overall goal. The long term

    goal is to provide all qualified low-income kids in the Sacramento area

    with services that will help ensure the health of their teeth at little or no charge.

3) put together a startup plan including:

    a) utility plan (Lee)

        - pg&e

        - Sewer

        - Electrical

        - water

    b) plot plan (Shawna)

    c) approvals from County

        - follow up with Mercy Housing on their similar previous experience.

        - find contact and set up meeting to discussapproval process (Dave)

    d) finance plan

        1) costs and expenses

        2) expertise and people required.

    e) cosmetic improvements to the clinic structure.

4) put together an operational plan including:

    a) get input/advice from:

        - SAEHC medical clinic (Christy Eberhardt is on the board)

        - San Francisco Homeless Dental Clinic

        - other sources

    b) Staffing   

        - Dentist taking leadership and managing the overall direction (Dr. Wiedeman)

            + make contact with Dr Wiedeman and ask for her leadership

            + Lee making this call.

        - Person to lead and manage unskilled labor (Serna residents volunteering)

        - Serna resident volunteers

        - Bayside volunteers

        - contact local dental colleges

        - volunteers from the community

     c) plan for process/procedures

        - keeping patient records

        - billing/financials/etc

        - scheduling/ screening patients

        - scheduling Dentists/assistants

        - inventory control

        - maintenenace of cleanliness, mechanical, drugs & Materials on hand.

        - computer systems to help manage

        - liability management - attorney/policies

        - Advertising/marketing

            + Ca Dental Association - Brian Scott (Not in Bayside database as a member or attendee)

            + SAEHC - look for paralells

        - finances

            + determine ongoing monthly expenses and source of funds

            + govt grants

            + Privately funded grants and other donations

        - security

            + supply storage

            + records storage

        - limitations of services on site and possible provision at certain specified Dentists at their offices

5) Meetings for the near future:

    a) Dr Wiedeman (Lee) 

    b) Mercy Housing (Dave)  

    c) Serna Village Management Team briefing/discussion (Julie)

    d) next meeting: July 9th at 8:30am.  

---

From: Dave Coburn [mailto:coburn180@comcast.net]
Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 10:44 PM
To: joa@dentalcontractors.com; jean@dentalcontractors.com
Cc: 'Dave Coburn'; jimh@baysideonline.com; 'Jennifer Walten'; 'Robert Tobin'; larsenfamily@surewest.net
Subject: Bayside: Serna Village Dental Clinic...

 

Thank you all for meeting this week to discuss the possibilities of

Placing a dental clinic at Serna Village.  I think it was very constructive.

 

Here are some of the major points of the meeting:

-          The Alexander’s are considering the donation of the clinic building (like a temporary classroom)

      As well as the management of the startup process for the clinic.

-          We need volunteer Dentists

-          Need material donations to sustain the clinic

-          need to explore the liability & insurance issues with the clinic

-          Should we open project to other organizations (St John’s, Acres of Hope, etc)

-          Is there one or more organizations that fund health challenges that we should contact?

-          The mission of the project should be primarily toward kids with grownups as an “also served”.

-          Need ways to engage Dentists now (treat kids at no charge at their offices…)

-          WE looked at 2 possible locations at the Serna site to place the building

 

 

See the attached flyer for an idea to get the work out to Dentists.  The idea is to have Baysiders

Take them to their dentists and have the dentists who are interested contact us.

 

Please correct or add any thoughts you have about the meeting.Attendees:  Joe, Jean, Julie Alexander (Westridge Builders, Inc.)

                  Robert Tobin, Jennifer Walten, jim Vetter (Cottage Housing/Serna Village)

                  Dave Coburn (Bayside)

The photo above perfectly captures the sense of possibilities created at the Quinn Cottages and Serna Village projects, thanks to the collaboration between participants and alumni, program and property staff and our many community partners and supporters .

The editorial below in last Saturday’s Sacramento Bee captures the sense of opportunity for this model to address the challenges that remain ahead.

Thanks in advance for your support for our efforts to move further in this direction in the coming year.

Robert V. Tobin, MPA, Executive Director

PHONE:  916.971-1566x14                  

CELL:  916.240.0384

FAX:  916.971-1636                                     

Cottage Housing communities transform the homeless nightmare into the American Dream

through participant-driven strength-based programs that create the home to a brighter future.

Serna Village & Quinn Cottages are homeless supportive housing project operated through collaboration between Cottage Housing Inc. and Mercy Housing California.

Reflections from the region: We must help the homeless in the new year

Published 12:00 am PST Saturday, December 29, 2007
Story appeared in EDITORIALS section, Page B6

This holiday season The Bee's editorial board asked local residents this question, "What is the most important lesson that Sacramento or the region should take from 2007, and how can it be applied next year?"

The following is from the Rev. James Richardson, an Episcopal priest and the chaplain of the California State Senate:

Our Sacramento region learned once again there are thousands of vulnerable people in our midst who barely have a roof over their head – and for many, not even that. This is not a new lesson, but the newest reminder came in 2007 with the wave of home mortgage foreclosures hitting primarily those with a toehold in the middle class.

The fact is that even before the bottom fell out of the subprime mortgage market, there were thousands of people in the Sacramento region living in substandard housing, or out of the back seat of their car, or in a cardboard box on the riverbank. Housing is a crisis that tears at the very fabric of our community.

How we respond in 2008 to the most vulnerable says a great deal about the heart and soul of our Sacramento region. Will we turn our backs and become obsessed with glitzy side issues such as building a basketball arena? Or will we act courageously with a full-court press to solve the housing and homeless crisis of our region?

We have a living beacon of hope in our community: Francis Quinn, the retired Roman Catholic bishop of Sacramento, who inspired our community to build low-income housing in midtown Sacramento – the "Bishop Quinn Cottages."

We need to build hundreds of new Bishop Quinn cottages all over our city, and we need to make housing affordable for young families with children. These are real family values that all of us should be able to agree upon.

The faith leaders from every religious community in Sacramento need to come together in 2008 on this one issue – housing – and push our political and business leaders into concrete action.

I am convinced that the purpose of life, no matter our religion or lack of religion, is being in a cause that is bigger than ourselves. We are each given a role in that cause, and a share of God's abundance to make our world a better place.

We are truly the hands, feet and active heart of God's grace, and we deepen our own lives by how we respond to the most in need.